Cardinals notch win in 3A district opener; Area Prep Football Roundup

Newton, Prairie City-Monroe, Colfax-Mingo and Lynnville-Sully opened district football action in Week 5 with victories. Baxter fell to 1-2 in 8-man district play after losing on Friday.

Newton 49, South Tama 7

For a third straight game, Newton High’s Cardinals rolled up more than 400 yards of offense on the ground. For the third straight game, the Cardinals won.

Giving the NHS homecoming crowd plenty to cheer about on Friday night, the Cardinals thumped the visiting South Tama County Trojans 49-7. The winless Trojans (0-5) only had two scoring threats all night — one was successful in the second quarter.

Newton won for the first time in three home games to go 3-2 overall. It opened Class 3A District 7 play with the win.

“It’s great,” senior linebacker Thomas Cox said about winning the third straight game and homecoming. “We’ve really worked hard to improve overall. Defensively, we’ve made strides in our tackling and doing our jobs out there.”

Junior Julian Hotchkin electrified the home crowd with an 85-yard return for a touchdown on the game’s opening kickoff. Newton dominated the game from that point on.

Senior Josh Miller only had 10 carries on the night but scored on three of them as he piled up 193 yards, unofficially. Miller carried it once in the second half, going 66 yards to the end zone to put Newton up 42-7.

“Julian really busted one loose on his first kickoff return and it set things up for the rest of the game,” Miller said. “Our blocking was great tonight and I just followed my teammates to the holes and ran.”

William Cheng, a junior, rushed for 86 yards and had one TD. Miller had a 9-yard scoring run and Cheng went in from 10 yards out to push the Cardinal lead to 21-0 by the end of the first quarter.

The Trojans used two big pass plays from Drake Crawford to Keith Keahna to set up their lone score. Tanner Walz finished the drive with a 14-yard TD run at the 10:12 mark of the second quarter.

Newton responded with a five-play march with Miller handling the ball four times for him to sail into the end zone from 12 yards out. Josh Meyer added his fourth extra-point kick to give the Cardinals a 28-7 lead with 8:09 remaining in the second quarter.

Four plays later, the Cardinals had the ball again, going 47 yards on seven plays. Junior Dylan Farver capped the final scoring drive of the first half with a 3-yard run into the end zone.

South Tama faced a 35-7 deficit with 3:54 left in the first half. The Trojans put together a drive to deep into Cardinal territory. On second down at the 12, Newton senior defensive back Ty Arguello intercepted the Crawford pass in the end zone.

Newton almost scored on the final play of the first half as Logan Cummins stumbled at the Trojan 5-yard line as time expired.

The Trojans moved the ball into Newton territory on the first drive of the third quarter then went backwards. Newton’s defense forced a punt.

The Cardinals set up shot at their own 20-yard. Cheng broke off a 14-yard run then Miller dashed 66 yards for the TD at the 6:40 mark. Newton was up 42-7.

Newton took possession of the ball again when South Tama turned it over on downs with 2:30 left. On the fifth play of the fourth quarter, sophomore Dakota Adams scored on a 3-yard run.

“I’m proud of our guys. Offensively, we did what we thought we could do. Our offensive line was stronger up front than South Tama,” Newton head coach Ed Ergenbright said. “Defensively, we continue to take steps forward.”

Newton is back on the road Friday in 3A District 7 play at Oskaloosa, which beat Grinnell 44-7 on Friday in district action.

Newton’s freshmen moved to 4-1 with a 19-2 win over South Tama on Friday.

Lynnville-Sully 28, Wayne 0

CORYDON — Lynnville-Sully did all the scoring and it all came in the first half of its 28-0 win over host Wayne on Friday in Class A District 8 play.

Gage Vander Leest ripped off a 61-yard TD run and kicked the extra point at the 11:39 mark of the first quarter. Vander Leest had 140 yards rushing on 21 carries for the Hawks.

Zane Fraker caught the first of two TD passes for the game with 3:03 left in the opening period from Bray Noun Harder. Vander Leest booted another extra point for a 14-0 lead.

With 1:27 remaining in the first quarter, Tyson Vander Linden returned a punt 69 yards for a score. Lynnville-Sully’s lead was 22-0 following a 2-point conversion run by Nate Stock.

In the second quarter, Fraker caught a 21-yard TD pass from Vander Leest. The extra-point kick failed leaving it 28-0.

Lynnville-Sully’s defense held the Falcons to less than 100 yards of offense — 90 rushing and 8 passing. Lynnville-Sully forced Wayne to punt the ball 10 times in the game.

The Hawks held the Class A leading rusher, junior Chase Keifer to 91 yards on 27 carries. Keifer had more than 1,000 yards rushing and 11 TDs coming into Friday’s game.

Evan Squires led the Hawk defense with 10 tackles while Stock recorded eight tackles. Stock and Rylan James each had a quarterback sack. Grant Wehrle had six tackles.

The Hawks improved to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in district play. They host Central Decatur in Class A District 8 action next Friday for Lynnville-Sully’s homecoming game in Sully.

PCM 42, Chariton 0

MONROE — Senior Reed Worth threw for 248 yards, rushed for 100 and had four total touchdowns during Prairie City-Monroe’s 42-0 win over previously unbeaten Chariton on Friday night.

Worth scored on the first play from scrimmage, and the Mustangs rolled to another win on their homecoming.

PCM is now 5-0 for the first time since 2011. The Mustangs are 1-0 in Class 2A District 8 play after a second consecutive shutout.

Senior Wes Cummings rushed for 86 yards and two scores and scored on both of his receptions. He caught two screen passes and gained 115 yards.

Cummings was held to 22 rushing yards at halftime, but he scored both of his receiving TDs in the first half. The first covered 70 yards, and it put PCM up 14-0. The second screen pass was a 45-yarder from Worth and it made i 21-0.

With no time on the clock in the second quarter, Worth connected with senior Preston Van Wyk for a 30-yard TD pass. Worth scrambled away from pressure on the play, then signaled to Van Wyk make a break to end zone. Worth lofted the pass into the air, and Van Wyk hauled it in for a 28-0 lead.

Cummings’ first rushing TD of the game came in the third quarter. It capped an 11-play, 37-yard drive. A pass interference penalty aided the drive, but Cummings also rushed it seven times for 18 yards. He scored from 1-yard out with 4:38 to play in the quarter.

The final points of the game came with a 5:18 to go. With the continuous clock already running, the Mustangs capped the victory with a 30-yard TD run by Cummings.

The PCM defense held to Chariton to 122 yards. The Chargers, which came into the game 4-0, gained 46 of those yards on their final drive, and two pass interference calls against PCM set the visitors up at the 1-yard line for one untimed down.

The Mustangs’ backup defense held the Chargers out of the end zone for the shutout win.

Worth finished 8-of-15 for 248 yards and three TDs. He gained 100 rushing yards and another TD on 12 carries. Cummings got his 86 yards on 14 carries and had 115 yards on two catches.

Van Wyk had 45 yards on three catches and senior Isaac Telfer collected 88 yards on two receptions.

PCM’s starting defense has only surrendered 16 points in five games. Senior Olin Meinders had nine tackles for the Mustangs, while Telfer had five and senior Jarron Trausch finished with 4 1/2. Senior Nick Dredge had an interception and seniors Brycen Rogers and Chance Palm each recovered a fumble.

Colfax-Mingo 13, Pleasantville 12

COLFAX — Junior Brady Berkey threw two touchdown passes and the Colfax-Mingo football team matched last year’s win total with a 13-12 homecoming win over Pleasantville on Friday night.

Berkey tossed a 44-yard TD to senior homecoming king Zarek Hill and then hit junior Trinity Schroeder for a 54-yard TD strike.

The Tigerhawks are 4-1 overall and 1-0 in 1A District 7. Colfax-Mingo was 4-6 last season. Pleasantville falls to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in district play.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck 54, Baxter 4

GLADBROOK — The Baxter football team fell behind early and couldn’t catch up to Gladbrook-Reinbeck during a 54-4 road loss on Friday night.

The Rebels led 30-0 after the first quarter and held a 48-2 lead at halftime. Baxter drops to 1-4 on the season and is 1-2 in Class 8-Man District 5 play.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck is now 3-2 overall and 3-0 in district games. The Rebels have won three straight after starting the season 0-2.